Science. Weird names in astronomy: the stars

The human being observed the sky since the beginning of the time. He saw shapes in the groups of stars similar to objects around him, but in other shapes he imagined the form of his gods and the birth of his legends.

He named the wandering stars, the planets, after his gods, and he named the stars as well. As his knowledge progressed, he gave names to asteroids, nebulae, galaxies and regions of the Moon and the planets of the solar system.

The traditional names of the stars that we use today are of Arabic origin such as Rigel or follow a nomenclature based on their location in the sky with respect to a constellation such as Beta Orionis (other name for Rigel) of the Orion constellation. However, there are unusual names that pay tribute to important figures related to the astronomical research and worldwide culture.

Sualocin and Rotanev are two stars with very original names. They appeared in the Palermo catalog at the beginning of the 19th century and have a curious story. The people did not know the meaning of the names. It was the British astronomer Thomas Webb who discovered that the stars got their name "literally" from the Italian astronomer Niccolò Cacciatore whose Latinized name was Nicolaus Venator. Well, apparently, Cacciatore had a bit of fun naming the stars Alpha and Beta Delphini (from the constellation of the Dolphin) as his own names Nicolaus and Venator but in reverse: Sualocin and Rotanev. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union officially accepted by these names.

In the 1960s, the same reverse naming formula of Cacciatore was repeated using the names and nicknames of astronauts Virgil Ivan Grissom, Edward White, and Roger Chaffee from the Apollo mission. The name of the star Gamma Cassiopeiae in the constellation Cassiopeia is Navi after the middle name of Virgil Ivan Grissom, the astronaut-in-chief. The name of the star Iota Ursae Majoris in the constellation Ursa Major is Dnoces in reference to the astronaut Edward White, the “second”. And the name of the star Gamma Velorum is Regor which is the first name of astronaut Roger Chaffee in reverse sense. Unfortunately, the three astronauts died on the Apollo 1 mission in 1967. Thus, the International Astronomical Union officially recognizes the names Navi, Dnoces and Regor in honour to them.

We have to say that the International Astronomical Union is very demanding in terms of the nomenclature of astronomical objects and not everyone can have the privilege of having an astronomical object such as a star be named in their honor.

However, an important writer like Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra can have his own star, which, by the way, is Mu Arae from the Altar constellation. Moreover, he can also have his own solar system! The fact is that, at the initiative of the Astronomical Society of Spain, the Pamplona planetarium and the Cervantes Institute, the Cervantes star of the Cervantes system received its official name in 2015. The names for the four planets orbiting the Cervantes star are Dulcinea, Quijote, Sancho and Rocinante, characters from his novel.

The name of the star BD-17 63 of the southern constellation Cetus is Felixvarela in honor of the Cuban priest Félix Varela who played an important role in the birth of his nation and of the scientific education in his country. This name was an initiative of Cuba during the NameExoWorlds campaign of the International Astronomical Society to name exoplanets and their respective stars. The planet that orbits it is Finlay, in honor of the Cuban doctor Carlos Finlay who was the discoverer of the yellow fever vaccine.

Other countries also made proposals for curious names during the NameExoWorlds campaign, such as the star Macondo (HD 93083 of the southern constellation Antlia), in memory of the town from the novel "100 years of solitude" by the Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez. The planet Melquiades is orbiting Macondo. The name of Melquiades refers to the main character of the novel.

A deserved recognition for astronomical research goes to the star 55 Cancri A of the 55 Cancri binary system of the constellation of the Crab. Its name is Copernicus in honor of the Polish astronomer Nicolás Copernicus. The star Copernicus has five extrasolar planets orbiting it; their names are Galileo, Brahe, Lipperhey, Janssen and Harriot.

The planet Galileo is after the Italian physicist Galileo Galilei, father of physics, discoverer of Jupiter satellites and observer of solar activity, among many other contributions to the development of physics and astronomy. Brahe is in honor of Tycho Brahe, discoverer of the elliptical shape of the planet orbits and the laws of their movement. The names of Lipperhey and Janssen come from the Dutch pioneers in the creation of lenses and telescopes, Hans Lipperhey and Jacharias Janssen. The planet Harriot is in honor of the British Thomas Harriot who developed the theory of refraction, first observed the Moon with a telescope and contributed to the use of symbols for mathematical notation.

Well, the NameExoWorlds campaign goes on and the discovery of new exoplanets goes on as well. So, you know, search the astronomical institutions of your country and propose more curious names for exoplanets and their respective stars. Does any idea come to your mind?